The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Viola, botanically known as Viola cornuta and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Sunviotama’.
The new Viola is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Higashiomi, Shiga, Japan. The objective of the breeding program was to create new compact Viola cultivars with attractive flower coloration.
The new Viola originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in April, 2002, in Higashiomi, Shiga, Japan, of a proprietary selection of Viola cornuta identified as code number OV-54-1, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Viola cornuta identified as code number 02V-40-3, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Viola was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled greenhouse environment in Higashiomi, Shiga, Japan.
Asexual reproduction of the new Viola by vegetative cuttings in a controlled greenhouse environment in Higashiomi, Shiga, Japan since April, 2004, has shown that the unique features of this new Viola are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.